The Will to Live The Biography and Travels of Natalia Jones
by Marj-the-dog
Summary: Natalia Jones was born in the small town of Turnbulle, Hoenn Region with a relatively happy childhood. She had a good family, and even better friends, however as things grew tense between her and her father, Natalia's life took a turn for the worst, and it was all her own fault. Now her mother is dead, her father is nowhere to be found, and now she has no choice but to run.
1. Chapter 1: A New Begining

Natalia walked into Professor Oaks new lab established in Cherrygrove City as assistants walked to and fro; delved far too deep into their work to notice the girl. Oak was just as busy, and didn't notice her either, even after she had walked up to his desk. When he did pick up on an outside disturbance, he lifted and turned his head. "Oh hello. Are you a new trainer? You must be here for your Pokemon, but I'm afraid you're a bit late... We don't have very many left..." Natalia shook her head. "I already have a few Pokemon of my own, I'm here to get my trainer license so I can try the league challenge." She explained. "Oh, not from here are you?" The professor mused, standing up and turning to walk to a computer. "No." Natalia confirmed. "Well would you mind sowing me what Pokemon you have with you? Just an old man's curiosity." He chuckled, turning to look at her once again. Natalia obliged, releasing her team; A Vibrava, an Espeon, an Absol, and a Combusken. "Interesting... So do you come from the Hoenn region? Most of your team are natives to Hoenn." Oak deduced, and Natalia nodded once more. "Well, being that you are still new to the Johto region, I at least want to commemorate your journey here with a pokemon from the region... Unfortunately I don't have any more here... Hmm..." He thought for a monent. "I'll tell you what... I have a friend, they call him Mister Pokemon, for his profound interest and hobby in knowledge in Pokemon. I'm surprised he didn't become a professor like me. Ahem, sorry, my point is, he's been raving about some new pokemon egg that he's discovered and he wants me to have it, but I'm old and I don't travel that much anymore, an egg would be more suitable to a trainer such as yourself." Natalia nodded. "I understand sir, thank you." Oak smiled as she accepted. "Just keep it with you and make sure it stays warm, it will hatch eventually. When it does, would you mind letting me have a look?" Natalia nodded again. "Yes sir." "Very well then, let me register you for Johto; What's your name?" "Feyonn Marquee, but please call me Fey, Professor." She lied. That was her alias now, no one could ever know who she really was. "Alright Fey, here you are, your Johto trainer ID card, badge case, and pokedex. Here's a map chip for your Pokegear, apply that and you'll get a map of Johto. If you're taking the league challenge, you should start with the gym in Violet City, it's just a ways past Route 30, which is where Mister Pokemon lives, conveniently for you." Natalia chuckled slightly ." Yes, it would seem so. Thank you professor." She put her newly acquired items in her satchel and returned her Pokemon before heading out. "Gook Luck!" Professor Oak called out before she walked through the door. Looking at her map, she headed north through Route 30 as instructed. Eve, her Espeon popped out of her Pokeball when Natalia was on the road. "A Pokemon egg..? Sounds interesting... I wonder what Pokemon it could be...?" Her voice echoed within Natalia's mind telepathically. "I'm not sure... Honestly I have no clue how to hatch an egg either... I guess I just have to follow the professors advice and hope for the best." She mused. If she liked hatching the egg maybe she could start breeding Pokemon. Placing her hands in her pockets she looked around at all the new Pokemon around her. Furretts watched curiously from a safe distance, hoot hoots slept within the trees, Rattata scampered about the grass, but none seemed aggressive enough to challenge the newcomers in their territory. Soon enough, a house came up in the distance, surrounded by trees with strange colored berries. As she grew closer, she watched as a man climbed up one tree with a basket, and picked a few. However, he seemed to lose his balance on the ladder and began to fall. "Eve!" Natalia called, not needing to say much more, her Espeon already knew what it's master wanted. The purple cat dashed off towards the man and stopped his fall with psychic, causing him to hover just inches from the ground. Slowly, Eve set him down as Natalia ran to catch up. "Are you okay sir?" She asked sounding concerned. "Yes yes! Just fine thanks to your Pokemon here!" Natalia smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as the man stood back up, dusting himself off. "You may want to be more careful when picking berries from now on sir..." She suggested, and the man gave her a funny look. "Berries..? Oh no no no! There are Apricorns! Magnificent little plants that are used for making Pokeballs! I grow them here and collect them." Natalia looked curious. "You can turn them into Pokeballs? That sounds fascinating..." She looked back up at the trees again, and sure enough the 'berries' didn't look like berries at all. The Apricorn collector seemed glad that he sparked an interest within her and handed Natalia a pouch. "Here, take this. It's a pouch specially made for holding Apricorns. They grow all over the Johto region so whenever you see some just grab some and put them in that little bag. See how many colors and qualities you can find!" Natalia smiled and took the bag, which already had a few Apricorns to start her off. "Thank you very much sir. You... Wouldn't happen to be Mister Pokemon would you...? I heard he lived around here." The man chuckled. "Oh no no... Mister Pokemon lives a little ways up farther along this route. People always come asking for him, and never about Apricorns anymore... I'm glad you've taken an interest though! Do me a favor and spread the good word would you?" Natalia nodded. "Absolutely." She promised, and put away the pouch. "It was nice meeting you sir!" She waved, walking further north. The path split in two here, one led into a grassy area, and the other seemed to have a commotion, although she wasn't entirely sure what was going on. It seemed like a battle of sorts between two rookie trainers. She shrugged it off though, uninterested, and went up the other path. Sure enough, just as the Apricorn man had said, another house appeared in the distance. The grassy path stopped here, a dead end surrounded by forest, so there was no questioning it, this had to be mister Pokemons house. Stopping only to pick up a few Pink Apricorns on the ground, she made her way up to he door and knocked. After waiting for a moment with no reply, she knocked again. After another round of silence, she tried the handle of the door, which turned easily and let her in. The inside of the house was like a museum, there were Pokemon artifacts everywhere displayed behind glass. A tablet of Mew and Arceus, books on legendary Pokemon, a brilliant red scale whose box claimed that it belonged to a Gyarados, and in the corner of the room, scribbling furiously, was a man in a brown suit and hat, who Natalia could only assume to be Mister Pokemon. She also saw the egg incubator next to him and smiled, clearing her throat to make her presence known. Mister Pokemon jumped and turned around in his chair. "What?! Hm?! Who's there?!" His anxious eyes landed on Natalia. "Who are you? What are you doing in my house? I didn't hear you knock! Don't you know that's rude?" Natalia looked a bit caught off guard. This guy was asking so many questions all at once she couldn't keep up without being interrupted by another. "I'm sorry sir, my name is Fey; Professor Oak sent me to get this egg you have for him?" She explained. At the mention of the egg Mister Pokemons eyes lit p, followed by a wide smile. "Ah! Yes Fey! The professor sent me an email about you! Why didn't you say so earlier?! Come come let me show you." He took Natalia's arm and dragged her towards the egg. "It is so strange, I've never seen any shell like it before. A Pokemon egg shell often helps show what Pokemon it contains, but I've never seen this pattern. Without a doubt this Pokemon must be rare. Therefore please take utmost care when tending to her alright?" He asked quickly, beady eyes seeming to scrutinize her every move. "Her...? Do you know the gender already?" Mister Pokemon laughed a little. "Oh no, it's just a educated guess. Female eggs are usually rounder than male, but who knows? This is a new egg, so anything is possible." He babbled happily. "Say, do you know Professor Elm?" Natalia shook her head. "He lives in new bark town with a research lab, I emailed him about the egg too but he's so busy these days. I'm sure he would love to egg-zamine it! Ha ha!" Natalia rolled her eyes a bit at the pun but knew where this was going. "You would like me to take her to the Professor yes?" She asked as Mister Pokemon continued chuckling. "Yes yes please. Here you are, hold her gently now." He carefully took the egg from the incubator and handed it to her wrapped in a small blanket. Natalia did as instructed, holding it gingerly in her arms and tucking the wrap around it. "Thank you sir. Would you like me to come back and show you when it hatches?" Mister Pokemon nodded fervently. "Yes yes yes! Please do little lady, I would appreciate it very much." Natalia nodded and headed out the door with one final wave. Eve followed her out and nudged her leg a bit. "Can I see it?" She asked telepathically, and Natalia complied, leaning down so that Eve could take a look. She gave it a few sniffs, rubbed her cheek lightly against it, and smiled. "It's such a cute little egg." Natalia giggled. "Yes, I think so too." She stood back up and ran her fingers down its smooth warm surface. Carefully, she took out her map and looked for New Bark Town. It was a little east of Cherrygrove, so not all that far from here. When she reached the beginning of the little town, she put away her map, and opened the top of her satchel so she could put the egg inside and keep it warm. However, in the process of zipping it up, she felt a sudden force plowing straight into her, and the egg went flying. Eve slowed it down with Psychic and Natalia scrambled to catch it in her arms again, breathing a sigh or relief as it remained safe. She turned to the clumsy red haired boy with a scowl. "Hey! Watch where you're going! You nearly killed my egg!" The boy looked around, almost nervously. "What's it to you? It's just an egg. It's not even a Pokemon yet. How useless. Besides, you were in my way." Natalia couldn't believe the arrogance of his guy. She stood up, dusted herself off, and put the egg back into her satchel, this time zipping it up completely. She saw something shining on the ground and picked it up, assuming it was hers, but it was a trainer ID card. 'Vulcan Black' it read, holding a picture of the redhead. "H-hey! Give that here its mine!" He growled, obviously unnerved. She pulled it even further away. "Apologize first." She demanded. "Make me." He retorted back. "Pfft... You are the most selfish, cocky, arrogant trainer I've ever met. I don't really think you need this card because you obviously aren't fit to have Pokemon." She stuck the ID in her pocket. "Oh really? Let's test your theory out then!" Vulcan yelled, tossing up a Pokeball. A Todadile came out, jumping about and spraying water. Natalia chuckled. "You want to battle? Fine. Prepare to lose. Let's get going Eve, teach this punk a lesson." Vulcan looked down on his Pokemon. "You'd better not lose." He growled, and the Tododile settled down, not looking quite as happy as before. "Let's go, water gun!" The Tododile let out a burst of powerful water from its mouth, and Eve dodged easily. She was fast for an Espeon. "Psychic!" She commanded, Eve nodded and lifted the poor crocodile into the air. It struggled, flailing uselessly as it tried to direct its flight before Eve flung it to the ground. Natalia felt some pity for the Pokemon, not wanting to cause it any more pain that what she could imagine it being in with it's 'trainer'. However it got up, not quite down for the count. Vulcan was about to make another command, but Natalia wouldn't allow it. "Quick attack! Let's finish this." Eve dashed up with blinding speed, tackling the Tododile to the ground, and it was down for the count. "Ngh... Return..." Vulcan growled, a red beam of light sucking in the defeated Pokemon. "Fine, one down, he was useless anyways. I still have two more!" He tossed another Pokeball, and this time a chikorita came bounding out. "Chika!" Vulcan looked unhappy. "Ugh... Really? It's so cute and harmless looking..." The Chikarita continued to bound about happily. Natalia couldn't help but notice that Vulcan almost seemed to not know what his Pokemon were, which was very strange. However, she tossed out her next Pooemon as well, Eve staying back in the sidelines. "Let's go Blaze!" Her Combusken coming out and chirping his name happily. "Busken!" He pumped his arms and stretched a bit before bouncing back and forth on his feet, raring to go. Vulcan looked even less happy. "N-no fair! You have a type advantage!" He complained, and Natalia smiled. "What? Not fair? This is a Pokemon battle, it happens all the time. If you train hard and love your Pokemon, they will pull through even under the worst situations." She suggested, knowing from experience. Vulcan snorted however. "Love. Right. Because Pokemon get more powerful through something as stupid as love." Natalia sighed. "Flamethrower." Blaze obliged, letting loose a stream of fire from his beak. The Chikarita however, dodged, but just barely. "Vine whip!" Vulcan commanded hesitantly, knowing that it wouldn't be very effective. "Burn them!" Natalia retorted. Blaze jumped back and as the vines came out, he blew out short bursts of flame at each vine, sending them back and away. "Keep going! Hit it! Why can't you hit it?!" Vulcan growled angrily at his Pokemon. Natalia shook her head. "Change of plans Blaze, grab a vine and get it close!" Blaze complied, and let one vine get through, gripping it tightly and yanking the Chikarita towards it. Vulcan had a bad feeling about this. "No no no no!" He yelled, as though that could stop them. "Flamethrower!" Natalia commanded. Another jet of flame blazing from the Combuskens mouth with no possible escape from the Chikarita. She went down, badly hurt, but Blaze made sure that he didn't burn her enough to kill. He and Natalia had worked on controlling his powerful flames. A quick exchange was made with his master for approval in his decision. She nodded, giving a small smile as he walked up. "I'm very proud of you." Her smile grew wider, petting the Pokemon on the head as he chirped happily. Vulcan returned his second Pokemon rather unhappily. "Let's hope you're actually worth something." He muttered, tossing out a rather calm Cyndaquill. Natalia looked at Blaze. "Think you're up for one more round?" Her Combusken smiled. "Busken!" He chirped, flexing his arms, which made Natalia giggle. "Alright, let's go." Blaze hopped back out of the field, and prepared himself. "Ember!" Vulcan commanded, his Cyndaquill letting loose a volley of flames. "Can you take the heat?" Natalia asked Blaze with a small smile. Blaze smirked and lifted his arms in an X like fasion, letting the flames lick his feathers without so much as flinching. He looked back up, dropping his arms and waiting for his next order. "Double kick!" Natalia commanded. Blaze jumped into the air, and landed two solid kicks to the tiny fire hedgehog, sending it flying back into Vulcans arms. "Give it up." Natalia suggested sternly. Vulcan held on to his last Pokemon and glared at her. "Why? So you can mock me for backing out of a battle?" Natalia shook her head. "No. I'll give you back your trainer card and let you go to the Pokemon center. All I ask is that you take this as a lesson; You may want to get more familiar with your Pokemon before challenging anyone again, particularly a more experienced trainer." She tossed his ID onto the ground in font of him and returned Blaze back into his Pokeball before walking past, offering one last piece of critical advice. "When we next meet, you better treat your Pokemon better, or you have no chance of beating me." Vulcan remained quiet for a while. "Humph." He scoffed, and started heading for the Pokemon Center. When Natalia reached New Bark Town, what she saw was rather strange, there were police cars everywhere around what looked like Elms research lab. Curious, Natalia walked inside. Professor Elm looked rather disheveled as a male detective questioned him. Reporters took pictures of the mess surrounding a small broken glass case and scattered papers while Officer Jenny looked over some fingerprints on the glass. The detective questioning Elm looked over as Natalia walked in. "Aha! Its her!" Natalia looked startled for a moment. "I-I'm sorry..?!" She asked, taken aback. "It's her isn't it professor? Rule number one of investigating... Whoever did the crime always comes back to the site!" Natalia looked even more confused. "What?! What crime?!" She suddenly felt extremely nervous. Why did she walk in here? Had she forgotten that she had to stay away from police? It was just that this was a new region... Surely they didn't care or know about a small town in hoenn... Suddenly her skin was saved by Officer Jenny. "Hush you dimwit. Haven't you been listening to the Professor at all? The criminal was a boy with red hair! Does she look like a redheaded boy to you? I mean honestly! You are such a rookie..." She sighed, shoving the man aside. "I'm sorry ma'am, but this is a crime scene and we would like to keep it closed for a bit longer." Natalia calmed down some, relieved. "Wait... Did you say a boy with red hair? I battled a boy with that description a little while ago..." Jenny jumped on this information. "Did you get his name? How did he act? What Pokemon did he have?" Natalia put her hands up defensively. "S-slow down! Please!" Eve stepped forward in-between the two. "Allow me Officer..." She offered, closing her eyes, and projecting the entire encounter with Vulcan into the room for everyone to watch. After it ended and Jenny finished scribbling down her notes. "Thank you miss...?" She asked, waiting for Natalia to give her name. "Fey." Natalia lied again, smiling gently. "Ah, miss Fey. Lovely. You and your Espeon have been very helpful, thank you! Say... Have I seen you somewhere before? In another region..?" She asked curiously, and Feys heart stopped for a moment in time. "It's... Entirely possible, but everyone sees you everywhere Miss." She suggested with a small smile. Jenny laughed a bit and nodded. "That's true. Well, come on, let's go investigate Cherrygrove City." She suggested, her group following her out. Professor Elm still looked rather upset. "To think that my poor sweet Pokemon have fallen into the hands of that boy... Oof... I hope he takes your advice Fey..." Natalia smiled softly. "They'll catch him. If I ever see him again I'll catch him." She offered, and Elm smiled again. "So what are you doing here anyways?" He asked, and Natalia remembered the egg in her satchel. Slowly and carefully she pulled it out. "Mister Pokemon wanted me to show you this." Elm looked over the egg with great interest. "Oh my... An egg? I've never seen one like this before... He certainly is fascinated by eggs." Natalia nodded. "Professor Oak wanted me to have it and show him when it hatched since no one seems to know what's inside." Elm smiled again. "Would you mind showing me as well? I would offer to incubate it here, but it is probably better that the egg travels with you, it's more natural and healthy." Natalia nodded again. "I'll be in the area." She promised. "Are you taking the league challenge?" He asked suddenly. "Yeah, I just got registered for the Johto region." Elm nodded. "I see. You battle expertly. I assume you're going to head for Violet City?" Natalia nodded again. "Yes sir." "I wish you luck then." He smiled, waving her off as she headed out the door. She went north of Cherrygrove again, this time noticing that the rookie trainers on the left side of the road were done battling. One boy, the one who lost, was healing his Rattata, while the other stood over him gloating is victory. "Your Rattata is sooo great huh Joey? Well I have two pokemon, so it's only natural that I won. Joey grumbled something quietly and continued to spray a potion on his Rattata. "Hey, kid, quit bragging it makes you look like a jerk, for one, and then it makes you look stupid web. The information you're blabbing is incorrect." She suggested, walking up to the two. "Is your Rattata okay Joey?" She asked. "Hey! What's he big idea? More Pokemon more power! I just proved that to him! Don't go raining on my parade!" Natalia smiled. "Would you like to try your theory on me? I will use one Pokemon and beat all of yours. If you win I'll give you all the bragging rights, if you lose, you quit bragging and help Joey with his Rattata." The kid grinned. "Deal! Let's go Beak!" He called, tossing out a Pidgey. "Eve? Care to battle?" Natalia smiled to her Espeon who walked up in front and took a seat on the ground. "That Espeon is tiny..." The boy said, giving Eve a funny look. It was true, Eve as an Eevee was the runt of the litter, a rather small egg producing a small Eevee and a small Espeon. "Don't judge a Pokemon on its size." Natalia suggested, nodding to Eve. The jewel on her head flashed and sent a spiral of waves towards the bird. It fainted immediately from the Psybeam. "What?! Already? Well fine, that's okay, she was weak from the last battle. Tatty is still full health and ready to go!" The boy tossed another Pokeball after returning his Pidgey and a Rattata came out. "Quick Attack!" He yelled, and the Rattata charged forwards. "Dodge it with a quick attack of our own!" Natalia commanded, and suddenly Eve was on the other side of the battlefield. "Psybeam!" Eve let loose another ray of color at the mouse, causing it to faint as well. Eve returned to its masters side and the boy returned his Rattata. Joey smiled. "See Mikey? I told you! One Pokemon can be stronger than two! You just gotta train it right." Natalia nodded. "But it is a good idea to raise more than one, because you can have type advantages, but not only that. If you have a whole team of really strong Pokemon, you can be really powerful too. Now Mikey, why don't you and Joey go to a Pokemon center and heal your Pokemon?" She suggested. Mikey nodded and started off towards Cherrygrove, but Joey tugged on Natalias shirt. "Hey miss, can I battle you some day when me Rattata gets stronger? I'll give you my Pokegear number and I can call you when I'm ready!" Natalia nodded. "Alright, here." She held out her Pokegear and tapped it to his, exchanging trainer information. "I'll see you around Joey, take good care of that Rattata." She said with a smile and walking off. A little ways away, she saw a sign that pointed to Violet city as she passed a dark cave and smiled. "Almost there!" Exclaimed Eve happily, bounding along by her side as they dashed for the town. It was interesting to see the culture here, a tower filled with monks, a school for new trainers, ruins just on the other side of town, and she vowed to visit everything. First she headed for Sprout Tower. She didn't understand the name at first, but when she saw all the bellsprout she started to. However, all the bellsprout looked hurt, burned even. Several monks came running down the stairs yelling about needing a Pokemon center imediately. Curious and concerned about the tower being of fire or something, she head up the stairs only to find more monks and hurt bellsprout. When she reached to top floor, she found Vulcan fighting an older monk with his Cyndaquill. The inferno of flames died down and a Noctowl fainted. The old man looked very concerned as he returned his Pokemon. "Alright, hand it over!" Vulcan yelled angrily. "Very well... You are indeed powerful... But you care about Pokemon as much as you care about dirt. You should learn to lo-" Vulcan snatched the TM from the old mans hand and cut him off. "I'll listen to you when you can actually beat me with your 'love' and 'care' for Pokemon. Right now you're just another weak trainer who snivels every time your Pokemon gets beaten." He turned and saw Natalia, expression changing dramatically as she scowled his way. "First, you rob Professor Elm of his Pokemon, then you go and nearly set the tower on fire and hurt several Pokemon. Give me one reason why I shouldn't beat you down now and take you to the authorities." She growled, grabbing a Pokeball at he side and tossing it up. It released the Absol within who growled ferociously, raring for a battle. Vulcan took a few steps back, looking around. His Cyndaquill stepped forwards however, seeming to want to protect its new master. Dusk, Natalia's Absol, charged forwards and used Bite without command. "Dusk! No!" She yelled at her disobedient Pokemon, however the Cydnaquill dodged, sending a jet of flame Dusks way. In the meantime, Vulcan took out some rope and wrapped it around the tower's middle pillar. "I've got two reasons; Escape Rope." He smirked, replying to her earlier rhetorical question. "Dusk! Stop him!" For once the Absol obeyed, charging wildly after Vulcan who returned his Pokemon and slid down the pole. Dusk used pursuit, and jumped down as well. Natalia had no choice but to run down the flight of stairs to see what was happening. When she reached the bottom, Dusk was limping and growling at Vulcan as he escaped out the door. Natalia let him go for now, and went to tend to Dusk. "And that's why you don't jump down pillars haphazardly." She chuckled sadly, looking at his broken paw. Dusk frowned and looked out the door, ignoring his master. "It was a valiant effort though. Thank you." She offered, and the tiniest hint of a smirk showed up on the Absols face. A super potion later and Dusk was healed and back in his Pokeball. Before Natalia left the tower, the old man she saw earlier came down to check on her. "Are you alright?" He asked sounding concerned. "Just fine, though I should ask you the same sir..." She muttered, still unhappy with Vulcans escape. "I'm fine, and so are my Pokemon." He said with an uneasy smile. "I think you have proven your worth, take this TM." He handed her a disk and she accepted it, putting it away in her TM case. Waving goodbye, she decided to take a break and check out the Ruins of Alph that her map showed just outside of the city. As she passed through route 32 she saw some new Pokemon, cute little sheep with electric power. Maybe she could catch one later? It would certainly help against the flying type gym leader. For now she continued into the ruins. The scene was drastically different from the grassy town before- sandy, dry, rugged and decrypt. There was an advertisement right near the start of the ruins. "Ruins of Alph; Feel free to explore the ruin and become a fossil professor!" She chuckled slightly and made her way to the small cabin in the distance. The building was full of researchers, studying some of the hieroglyphs. Most of them didn't even look up at her, but one man, dressed much differently than the rest, came right up looking very enthusiastic. "Oh! Are you one of the new researchers? Please please come in and-" Natalia was swept towards a rack of lab coats. "U-um sir!? I'm just a visitor I'm sorry..." She tried to explain. Suddenly the man looked very sad. "Oh... I'm sorry, please enjoy the scenery..." He sighed and walked back to his desk. Feeling rather bad, Natalia decided to leave the building and actually take a look at some of the ruins. One cave of hieroglyphs contained a pedestal that held some sliding panels which piqued Natalia's interest. "May I...?" She asked, turning to the lady near the entrance of the cave. "You can try, but we don't really know what the end result looks like, so most don't even know where to begin..." Natalia smiled, feeling up to the challenge; she loved a good puzzle. Cracking her knuckles, she started sliding the panels, and soon the picture of a small bug Pokemon was completed. Natalia smiled, feeling accomplished, but then the ruins glowed faintly, and Natalia felt herself falling through the floor. "EVE!" She screamed, reaching out and trying to grab something. Suddenly she stopped midair and slowly landed on the floor, her Espeon jumping down beside her. "D-did you just fall from the ceiling?" A voice called out in astonishment. Natalia opened her eyes and looked over at the researcher. "You must have solved the puzzle!" Her gaze was fuzzy and mind numb after the fall, but she nodded subconsciously. "We really could use your talent in archaeology... Do you think you could solve some more puzzles for us?" Natalia nodded again. "When I have the time, sure..." She mumbled, rubbing her head and blinking a few times. "Wonderful! Here, take this and write down anything you find while solving puzzles." Natalia took the small notepad she was handed and put it in her satchel. "Alright, I'll let you know if I find anything..." She promised with a dazed smile. The researcher nodded. "Here, we'll call you if we find any more puzzles, since we're still in the process of uncovering everything." He touched a card to her Pokegear and registered a number into it. "I hope to see you around more!" He smiled and walked off. Natalia continued to sit on the cave floor, staring at the walls. At first she thought it was her eyes playing tricks on her, but... The pictures on the walls started moving. She only realized it wasn't a hallucination when Eve started backing up. "Natalia... You're seeing this too right...?" She asked nervously. Natalia blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes, and nodded. "Y-yeah..." She said quietly, watching the unknown float about the room and emanating strange little tones. Standing up, she backed up slowly, thinking she may want to leave for now. Suddenly her foot hit something and she tripped backwards before Eve could do anything. "Owowowowow..." She muttered, looking to see what she had tripped on, ignoring the Unknown that floated around her, only to find a pink and fluffy Mareep asleep in the middle of the ruins. That was strange though... Weren't the Mareep she saw earlier yellow? She frowned, not able to remember, but she wanted a Mareep anyways, and this was was sleeping like a log, making it easier to catch. She backed up, stood again, and took out a Pokeball. After debating whether or not she should try and weaken it at the risk of waking it up, she decided that she should try and throw the Pokeball first. She had plenty after all. Throwing the red sphere up in the air, it hit the sheep on the head and captured its essence, landing on the floor and wiggling violently before breaking open again. The pink Mareep yawned and looked around lazily. Her dull eyes landed on Natalia and Eve, and with a curious "Maaay?" She turned her head a little to the side. "Eve, use quick attack." Natalia commanded quietly, and Eve obeyed, dashing towards the little sheep and knocking it down. Eve made it back quickly, but suddenly she froze, small sparks of electricity moving along her fur. "S-static..." Eve said grimacing. The Mareep seemed more active now, sparks flying from its fur. It let loose a thundershock, heading quickly towards Eve, and in her paralyzed state it was near impossible to dodge. She braced for the hit and took it fairly well. "You alright?" Natalia asked worriedly. "Just fine... It looks worse than it is because of the Paralysis..." Eve replied telepathically, struggling to stand. "Use confusion, something non physical." Eve gave a small nod and sent a wave of psychic energy towards the sheep, disses fully confusing it. "Nows our chance!" Natalia said excitedly, tossing another Pokeball. It hit it's target, and once again trapped the Mareep, wiggling for a while, but then settling. She had done it, Natalia had captured her first Pokemon in Johto. Satisfied, she walked over and picked up the Pokeball, releasing the Mareep inside. "Maaarep~" It said in a singsong tone. "Electra... I think I'll name you Electra. Now what were you doing sleeping in the middle of these ruins?" She wondered out loud. Electra looked around, seeming actually rather surprised. "It seems she didn't even know how she got here... Perhaps she was sleepwalking...?" Eve suggested. Natalia chuckled. "Maybe... It's entirely possible but I don't think I've ever heard of a sleepwalking Pokemon. Then again this Mareep isn't the same color as the ones we saw earlier either, so I suppose anything is possible." She laughed again, and turned to head back to Route 32. "Come on, we've got some training to do." She said with a small smile.


	2. Chapter 2: A Battle of Bravery

Natalia stood at the front of Violet City gym, taking in a few deep breaths before looking to the Mareep at her side. "You ready Electra? This is all you." She chuckled, and the pink sheep smiled. "Maaareep~" She bayed with enthusiasm. "Alright then... Here goes nothing!" She opened the doors, and walked inside. At first, she thought there was some kind of prank being pulled, because the gym was deserted. There was a single gate near the middle, preventing her from stepping out near the middle of the gym. Curious and a little peeved, she stepped towards the gate, and suddenly the ground shifted beneath her, rapidly propelling her and Electra up into the air. "AHHHHHH!" She screamed, waving her arms wildly and trying to keep her balance. The pedestal halted quickly to a stop and Natalia attempted to catch her balance again, but her legs were jelly and she ended up falling to her knees. A chuckle broke through her state of stupor, causing her to look up to the face of a blue haired boy. "Enjoy your ride...?" He asked casually. "Not... Really..." She felt dizzy and sick. "Sorry about that. I designed this gym for my bird Pokemon, and it gives some challengers the experience of a bird, being up so high, I thought it was a neat idea." Natalia stood and made a sort of snorting noise. "Did it ever occur to you that some people are afraid of heights? That would be giving you an unfair advantage because you're calm and they're more focused on the fact that one wrong move and they'd plummet to their deaths." She mumbled, glancing around nervously at the floor through the glass panels. Falkner gave her a look of pity. "Yes, I thought about that. But then again, one of the greatest lessons of being a Pokemon trainer is facing your fears. When you battle, you must let go of all distractions and just go for it! The only question is, can you do it?" He asked with a smile. Natalia got ahold of her bearings and nodded. Falkner then jumped off of the balance beam which threw her for a loop. But then he came back up, carried by his Pidgeotto and dropped down on a platform of his own all the way across the room. "Prove it!" He yelled, the smirk clearly audible in his voice. Electra stepped out in front of Natalia, fur sparking slightly. She was ready, which gave Natalia some confidence and together they broke out into a run. The beam of wood was long and wide, easy enough to make it across, however the moment Natalia looked down she froze and lost her balance, clinging desperately to the wood but still safely on top. "Maa!" Electra cried in worry, stopping and turning around as well. "I-I'm okay..." Natalia said weakly, obviously lying as she shook violently and refused to move for a while. Getting up slowly, she began to move across again, with more caution before starting to run again, and making it across. Falkner clapped lightly for her achievement. "Very good. Now, can you still let go enough to battle me? People say you can clip a flying-type pokemon's wings with a jolt of electricity. I refuse to allow people to insult bird Pokemon like that! I will prove here and now that the magnificent bird Pokemon are superior!" The Pidgeotto behind him flew up front, wings glowing a steel color as it came down on Electra, knocking her back and fluttering up in the air. Natalia grimaced, knowing the move hurt, but they had to press on. "Thundershock!" She commanded, and Electra shot a bolt of lightning towards the great bird, but it dodged rather easily. "You'll have to try harder than that! Sand Attack!" Falkner commanded, and the Pidgeotto flapped it's wings, blowing up a massive amount of dust. Natalia covered her eyes, coughing a bit as sand flew her way. "Electra! Can you see?! Shoot some sparks and try to light the area up!" She commanded, and saw a few flashes of light. "Steel wing!" Falkner commanded again, seeing the sparks as well. The dust cleared and Electra was struggling to stand where as the Pidgeotto was still in the air. However, it froze suddenly and had to work hard to softly make it's way onto the ground. Falkners eyes grew wide. "Oh no!" Natalia grinned. "Oh yes. Static. Maybe you shouldn't have started off with a physical attack! Thundershock! Let's go!" She commanded, and Elecrtra, with newfound hope let loose a series of sparks, hitting the great bird critically. "The wind is with us! We can still fly!" Falkner shouted, his Pidgeotto flapping it's wings and causing a large gust of wind to blow towards Electra who tried to dodge but got sucked into the vortex. It didn't seem to hurt her too bad though. "Hang on! See if you can break through!" Electra let a few loose sparks free and was able to tear through the wind enough to get out and let loose another bolt of lightning, finishing the battle. The Pidgeotto fell to the ground, defeated, and Falkner seemed to be speechless. At first, he stared blankly at the bird, then fell to his knees beside it. "Return... I'll heal you soon..." He said quietly, a red light capturing the Pidgeotto in its Pokeball and standing again. "... Oof... My dads cherished bird Pokemon... Taken down so easily... I guess type advantages can't be helped sometimes... But a defeat is a defeat. Take this." He handed her the Zephyr Badge with a smile. Natalia took it gladly, opening her badge case and placing it inside. "Here, I want you to have this too." He took a disc from his pocket and handed it over. "It's TM number 51, Roost. I think you can put it to good use." Natalia looked it over and put it in her TM case. "Thank you." She said looking around the building with a smile. She admired what he had to teach, and hoped he didn't stop. This time, she made her way back across the wooden beam with ease, taking the platform back down to freedom.


	3. Chapter 3: Hatching Havoc

Walking out of Violet City gym with her first gym badge in hand, the last thing Natalia expected to see was a woman in an elaborate kimono. "Oh my!" The woman exclaimed, walking up closer. "May I see that egg?" She pointed to the egg in her satchel. Natalia backed up slightly, uncomfortable with the rather close distance. "Um... Sure...?" She said quietly, gently taking the egg out still wrapped and warm in the white fluffy blanket. "Where did you get that egg...?" She asked curiously. "A friend of professor oaks..." She answered. "May I hold it?" The woman asked, but Natalia stepped back. "I'm sorry, this is a very special egg and I promised to take very good care of it... I'd rather not go handing it to other people..." She said nervously, gently putting the egg back n her satchel. She expected the woman to complain or get angry, but instead she smiled. "Good... Very good. Perhaps you could be..." Natalia looked up, confused. "I'm sorry, what was that...?" "Oh nothing! I hope to see you again sometime!" The kimono woman giggled and walked off. Natalia and Electra exchanged a look, and Natalia raising an eyebrow before looking back where the woman had been walking but she was now nowhere to be found. Natalia continued to stare at the empty road in confusion, but eventually shook her head and started walking south. "C'mon Electra..." She said quietly, still slightly dazed by the strange woman. After passing through a forested area, the trees cleared slightly, opening up to a bridge over water. Natalia couldn't swim, but she still loved the water, so she couldn't help but to walk along the bridge and lean down to feel the cool liquid along her fingers. Electra watched with intrigued interest, but didn't draw too near the water. There were many fisherman along the bridge catching Magikarp and Goldeen, Electra even got into a small quick battle with a Pollywag, but it ended rather quickly due to the type match up. The sky began to turn gold, orange and pink, as the sun set slowly, sinking down into the horizon. Natalia grew worried, and looked at her map for a nearby Pokemon Center that they could stay n for the night. Thankfully there was one just a little further down the path so she quickly stood and finished walking across the bridge, Electra tagging along closely behind her. Sure enough, the red roof came into view, just before the world went dark. As Natalia approached, the sliding glass doors opened at her presence, and she made her way inside. "Good Afternoon~" Nurse Joy greeted in her usual happy tone. Natalia smiled back and stepped up to the counter. "Hello. Do you have any rooms open for the night?" Natalia asked, although the place was rather deserted so it seemed like a silly question, but you never know. "Yes we have several rooms open, just go ahead and pick whichever one suits your fancy. Would you like me to heal your Pokemon as well?" Nurse Joy asked, and Natalia nodded, returning Electra into her Pokeball and handing her team over. Each Pokeball was placed into a slot on the machine and after a few seconds they were all handed back to her. She thanked the nurse and headed to the back of the center to look for a room, taking the first empty one she saw and setting her satchel down. Automatically Eve popped out of her Pokeball and took a look around before hopping up onto the single bed and curling up comfortably. "Eve..." Natalia giggled slightly as the purple cat yawned, looking up at her innocently. "What...?" She asked telepathically. Natalia walked over and gently prodded Eve in the side. "Scooch over." Making a fake noise of irritation, Eve complied, rolling over onto her other side and allowing Natalia some room. Natalia sat down on the edge, kicking off her boots, but then realized how cold it was here, glancing worriedly at her satchel wondering if it was warm enough inside. Sighing, she unzipped the bag and removed the egg, keeping it wrapped in the white fluffy blanket, and feeling along the shell. It was relatively warm, but not as warm as before. Wrapping it up a little tighter, she burrowed underneath the covers, holding the egg close and slowly drifting off to sleep.

"Natalia..." Eves voice whispered in her mind and she groaned, not wanting to wake up yet. "Natalia!" Her eyes flew open, and she sat up straight. "What? What's wrong?" Eve was sitting up on the bed looking around worriedly. "The egg! It's missing!" She cried. It was only at this point she noticed that both the egg and the white blanket were missing from her arms, and there were no signs of it around the room. Several horrid ideas flew into her mind, here was the possibility that the kimono girl took it while she was sleeping, that seemed a little out there, but there was a higher likelihood that Vulcan took it, he did steal his first three from professor Elm after all, why not steal her egg? Well... No... He also said he didn't care about it, then again he could have been lying. She glanced up at the door of her room. Had she left it open last night? Yes, she did, and that was a stupid move. Standing up she headed out and down the hall, back to the front of the Pokemon center. "Nurse Joy, have you seen a-" She started to ask, but then she saw it: A little egg with the same strange red and blue triangle pattern as hers, but it had a head, and was walking around on little feet while it's little hands held the white blanket. Natalia stared, starting to recognize her egg when suddenly it turned to look at her. A big smile spread out on its face and it started shuffling quickly to its 'Mother', tripping a few times on the blanket but eventually making its way over, chirping happily and reaching up, wanting to be held. Natalia couldn't help but laugh, reaching down and scooping the Pokemon in her arms and pulling out her pokedex. "Togepi- The Spike Ball Pokemon. The shell seems to be filled with joy. It is said that it will share good luck when treated kindly." It said in its electronic voice. Natalia smiled and put her dex back in her bag so she could focus completely on her Togepi. "You're such a cutie~" She cooed, wagging a finger in front of it's face as it continued to chirp and tried to grab ahold of it. "I think I'll name you... Grace. What do you think little one? Do you like that name?" She asked with a small smile, but the Togepi was a little too distracted by her finger. However it was also just a baby, if she called her Grace, she wold learn to respond to the name and it would all work out anyways. Eve came out into the hall to take a look at their new companion and Natalia knelt down to show her. "Aww..." Eve's tail swung playfully from side to side, sniffing the Pokemon lightly. Grace chirped some more and patted the purple cat lightly with her nubby arms. "Well, now that we've had our wake up call, let's head to the next town shall we?" Natalia suggested, cradling Grace in one arm while looking at her PokeGear map on the other. Azalea Town was next, and she'd have to pass though union cave to get there. "Alright, let's shake a tail feather and get going- We've got a gym badge to win." She said with a small smile.


	4. Chapter 4: Saving Slowpoke

**Emerging from union cave onto route 33, Natalia was met with rain. She didn't the sprinkle so much, but she knew Eve hated getting wet. Turning around towards the cave, she couldn't help but chuckle as she saw the purple cat sitting at the edge, waiting expectantly and glaring at the droplets that dripped down from the ceiling. Natalia took out a pokeball and the red beam of light shot out, bringing Eves essence into the safety of the container. Grace chirped a bit, giggling as the raindrops tickled her head, which made Natalia smile. "You like the rain huh...?" She chuckled, re-wrapping the blanket around the small Pokemon and heading down the road. "Hey!" A voice called out to her suddenly, causing her to turn around. A rather large man with a beard came running, wearing cargo pants and at least three layers of shirts, gasping and out of breath. "Hey... Do you have... Any water...?" He wheezed. "U-um... No... Do you have a bottle...? You could um... Collect rainwater maybe...?" She suggested. "I have been... Its not going very well though... I'm really thirsty..." He coughed a bit, turning away. "What have you been doing exactly...? I mean... You look like you ran a few miles..." Natalia asked, getting a bit worried for the mans health. "Hiking! I'm a hiker. The names Anthony! Nice to meetcha..." He coughed a few more times, and slowly sank down to sit in the grass. "A pleasure... I'm Fey... No wonder you're so tired. Did you come from Union Cave?" She questioned further. "You bet! Traveled that tunnel inside and out with my Pokemon many a time little lady." He cracked a smile, proud of this accomplishment. Natalia began to wonder how he could be so chubby with all of this proclaimed hiking the man had been doing, but bit her tongue and mentally slapped herself. She didn't want to judge the man, he seemed rather nice. "You have Pokemon? May I see?" She asked earnestly. "Well, I'd love to, but they really wouldn't like this rain you see, because most of them are rock type, but my machop probably wouldn't mind. "Come say hello macho man!" Anthony let the small muscular Pokemon out of its Pokeball. "Maaachop!" It said with a flex of its arms. "Togi Togi brreee!" Grace chirped, waveing it's stubby arms. "Maaachop!" The other Pokemon smiled, replying to whatever conversation Grace had started. "Hey, that's an interesting Pokemon you've got there... Can't say I've ever seen it before... Would you mind battling with me and show me what it can do?" Anthony asked, just now noticing the Togepi in her arms. Natalia hesitated somewhat. "She's only a baby, just hatched today... I don't know if that's a-" She started to say, but Grace seemed to like the idea of a battle, and wiggled out of her arms, making sure that her blanket didn't touch the ground and get dirty by wearing it like a cloak over her head. "It seems she thinks otherwise! Hahaha! I like her spirit." Anthony chuckled, standing up and backing away to give the Pokemon some space. "I... I suppose... I don't really know what she can do though..." Natalia said slowly. She was going into a battle completely blind, and it seemed just so... Unnatural... "We'll take it easy on you then! I just wanted to see what she could do remember? We'll find out together." Anthony promised, which made Natalia feel a little bit better. "Alright... Grace... You're going to have to help me out here..." She said looking worriedly at her Pokemon. Grace turned and turned her head a little to the side. "Togi...?" She asked. "Maybe she needs a little push in the right direction! Macho! Use pound!" Anthony commanded. "Hey wait hold on we-!" Natalia started to argue, but the Machop started running towards Grace. "Look out!" She yelled, looking away, afraid to watch. However, there was no noise of impact, nor any cry from Grace. Maybe she had dodged...? Slowly, she opened one eye to look, and she couldn't believe what she saw. Grace was chirping happily and waving the machop around in the air with psychic power. "Wow... Grace um... Why don't you set him down..." She said with a small nervous smile. Grace turned to look at her master curiously, and then chirped, smiling, and complied. The machop slowly drifted to the ground, already passed out due to the super effective move. Anthony looked rather stunned and returned his Pokemon. "Well then... Now you know." He chuckled, watching as Grace ran back over to her mama. "Togi Togi brrri!" She chirped, jumping into Natalia's arms. "She certainly likes that blanket, you did notice that she made sure not to drag it on the ground right?" Natalia nodded quietly. "You know, I'm not so thirsty anymore, and I think that by now my water bottle should be filled, so I think I'm going to go back into union cave. But hey, if you want to battle me again when it's not raining, I can show you the rest of my team. I should be right around here, but just in case I'm not..." He walked closer and folded back his sleeve to reveal his PTS, and tapped it to hers, transferring their information. "Alright, I'll give you a call sometime." Natalia smiled, and Grace chirped as well before they waved goodbye and started to head for Azalea Town. She came upon a small dirt road with a well up ahead, as well as two men, one significantly older than the other, the younger however, was wearing some strange clothing, it looked like a uniform of some kind. The two seemed to be in some sort of bitter debate, but she couldn't hear what they were saying until she came closer. "... so scram!" Was all she caught from the boy in the uniform as he shoved the older man away. It seemed he was able to scare the man enough to persuade him to go away, because he scrambled and ran off as soon as he was shoved. The boy in the uniform thumbed his nose and nodded, feeling rather superior. "Thaaats right buddy, keep walkin." He smirked and turned to stand guard by the entrance to the well. Natalia didn't really like the look of this, and walked up to the boy. "What's going on here...?" She asked suspiciously. "Nothing is 'going on'. It's unsafe to go down that well, so I'm standing guard to make sure people don't wander in. You know, being a good Samaritan and all that." He stated matter of factly. "Don't you think you're being a bit rough about it...?" Natalia continued to question, only causing the boy to scowl. "Hey, you don't like the way I do my job, then that's your problem. No one gives me any respect for doing this, they only complain about how they can't go down and get some fresh water and nag to me about it, kinda like what you're doin right about now. Don't complain, just take my kindness and get outta here." He crossed his arms, holding firm. Natalia sighed, giving in. Maybe the uniform was for the maintenance corporation he worked for, which made some sense. She wondered what the purple V stood for though?seemed like a strange letter choice for a maintenance company. Turning, Natalia went into town, however, an air of gloom seemed to hang over the place. People were huddled in corners, mumbling about missing slowpoke with worried faces. The town was just getting stranger by the minute. Soon she saw the older man who had been shoved earlier and walked up to him. "Hey, are you alright...? What was with that guy shoving you earlier?" She asked, deciding to get his side of the story as well. "Oh... Yeah he yelled at me for trying to sneak down into the well." He said sadly. "Why is that well so important...?" She asked curiously. "Well, it's not THAT important really, we get fresh water from it but we have other sources of water too. What we've really been concerned about is the fact that those guys have been here for weeks, and ever since they came, our slowpokes have been disappearing!" He wailed. Natalia looked rather confused however. "Your slowpokes...?" "Yes! Azalea Town is famous for the slowpokes that always roam around here. They come from that well and now they haven't been coming out at all. We think that those men are the cause of it." He suggested, and Natalia began to think. "And what about your gym leader? He hasn't done or said anything...?" She asked, frowning. "No... No one has seen him recently..." That was it. Natalia turned and headed for the gym, planning to give this guy a piece of her mind. Gym leaders of a town were responsible for the people, they were supposed to protect and solve problems, and it somewhat ticked her off that this one wasn't doing a thing. Coming to the front of the gym however, she saw another man in the same uniform as the well guard. "Excuse me, may I come in? I'm a trainer and I wanted to get my gym badg-" She started but was then cut off. "He's not here." The man said gruffly. "Well then where is he? And why are you here?" She asked frowning. "Like I know! Probably went off to catch some bugs or something. As for me, he asked that I make sure the gym is nice and secure till he gets back." Right. 'gets back'. Either this was the worst gym leader on the planet or there was something going on with these men in uniform. "In the meantime, why don't you go get yourself a nice tasty SlowpokeTail and relax for a bit? I heard that they're really nutritious." Natalia froze, eyes growing wide. "S-sorry... Did you say SlowpokeTail?" She asked, trying to remain calm. "Yeah! SlowpokeTail. Haven't heard of it? It's considered a delicacy in some places so it's kind of expensive, but hey, there's always a price for good things. Aren't you glad I told you? Now you know." Natalia resisted the urge to gag and nodded, looking pale and quickly turning to head back to the old man. She knew what was going on now, the men in uniforms weren't dong well maintenance, they were keeping the slowpokes down in the well to chop their tails off and sell them for money, it was a revolting notion, and she had to stop it. "Hey! Old man!" She called, stumbling up to him in panic. "W-what?" He asked, surprised. "The gym leader is either gone or that man in the uniform is keeping him trapped inside, but we have to get down in that well now! They aren't who they say they are!" She said quickly, panic rising with anger and horror. "Slow down! What's going on?" People were starting to look in their direction because she was causing such a big commotion. "The men in uniform... They're keeping the slowpoke down in the well and taking their tails to sell them!" The mans eyes grew wide. "Wh-what!? How did you find this out?!" He asked. "Gathering information. It just all makes sense and it fits together. Is there anyone who can help us get that guard out of the way?" The man paused to think for a moment. "Well... We have this tough guy called Kurt in this town. He makes Pokeballs out of Apricorns, so he's pretty strong, he should be able to help us." Natalia nodded. "Where does he live?" "Just over there in that little house." He pointed to show her the way. "Alright, let me go ask him." She said, heading over to the house. Opening the door, she saw a man pacing back and forth while a little girl watched, looking worried. "Um... Kurt?" She asked. The man stopped walking and turned around. "Hm...? Who are you?" He asked, not really looking at her but down at her feet. "I'm Fey, I'm a Pokemon trainer visiting here." She said, coming all the way in and shutting the door. "Ah, then I suppose you me to make you some Pokeballs? Well I'm sorry, but that'll have to wait." He waved her off. "No, no that's not it... You see, I've come to ask you for help. Those men in the uniforms are cutting off slowpoke tails in the well and selling them! It's horrible and the gym leader is unavailable..." Kurt and his granddaughter actually looked her in the eye now, shocked, then exchanged a glance. "I knew it! I knew those men were nothing but rotten liars! Our poor slowpoke... That's it, time to give them a lesson in pain!" And with that he charged out the door. "Hold on Slowpoke! Old Kurt is on his way!" Natalia moved out of the way and smiled. That was the spirit she was looking for. She turned and ran out the door after him, surprised at how fast he ran, because he was already nearing the edge of town and disappearing from her view. As she reached the well, there wasn't any sign of either Kurt or the man in the uniform, so she jumped the ledge and climbed the ladder down carefully, since Grace was still in her arms. When she reached the ground, she heard a groan and turned to see Kurt kneeling on the floor. "Kurt! Are you okay?" She asked, walking up to him. "Oh hey there Fey! The guard up top took off when I shouted at him so I chased him down here but I took a tumble down the ladder. I slammed pretty hard on my back so I can't really move right now... Rats! If I were fit and young my Pokemon would've punished them... Ah well... It can't be helped. But you, you can show them a thing or two! Go give them what for in my place will ya?" He gave a weak smile. "Are you sure you'll be okay...?" She asked, still worried. "Yeah! I'll be fine, go on!" Natalia nodded, and walked into the small cave opening to the left and ran through. Soon she stumbled upon the well guard. "Agh... You again lady? What are you gonna yell at me too? That stupid old coot startled me so much that I fled down here. Now I'm just plain out mad!" He tossed a Pokeball up into the air and let out a Rattata who screeched, feeling the same emotions as its trainer. Natalia quickly responded by letting Eve out of her Pokeball as well. "You deserve to be yelled at you scumbag..." Natalia spat. "Quick attack!" The well guard commanded, and Eve was hit with blinding speed. Natalia blinked, somewhat surprised that they had been so off guard, but Eve wasn't hurt too badly. "Psychic." She said coolly, hazel eyes glaring at the guard. Eve grew a purple aura around her body, and soon, so did the Ratatta, before it was flung into the cave wall, instantly fainting. "What? How are you so strong?!" He yelled in frustration, returning his Pokemon and sending out a Zubat who swiftly met the Sam fate as the Ratatta. "ARGH! This is just NOT my day..." The guard grumbled, returning his Pokemon once again and running off. "Come on Eve!" Natalia yelled, chasing the man further. She didn't see him again for a while because even more guards stopped her, battling and losing and running off as well until she reached the pit of the well where she had to see all of the tail-less slowpoke. The stench of smoke started to become prominent, and Natalia began to cough, waving the haze away from her face. "So yer the little brat who's been messing with my business..." A strangely accented voice stated through the smoke. Natalia coughed a few move time times before replying. "Buisness? You call this a- *cough* business?" She asked rhetorically. "Well it ain't much now but as soon as we make more deals and get more tails I'll be richer than all of yer ancestors combined lady."The figure finally became clear as Natalia came closer, a man with a fedora, white polyester shirt, and a grey vest, holding a cigarette. That at least explained the smoke. He looked rather unamused, serious, and a tad irritated at Natalia's doings with the one grey eye that she could actually look at since the other was covered with a mess of black greasy hair. "No, what I meant was that if you call 'business' chopping of slowpoke tails and selling it for profit then you're sick and twisted." She growled, but became much less intimidating when she succumbed to a coughing fit from the smoke, and the man began to laugh. "Maybe I am, but I don't really care about yer opinion now do I? I need money, so what if I have to chop a few tails? They don't really need em." "Yes they do! Their tails let them evolve you idiot!" Natalia argued. "Huh... Maybe that's why they're so nutritious? Thanks! Now I can prove that with facts. Ever think about becoming a teacher when you retire?" He smirked, watching Natalia smolder slowly. "Get out of here before I make you." She spat. "Oooh feisty one ain't we?" He continued to smirk, holding his hands up in a fake defensive stance. Natalia quietly swore she would wipe that stupid grin off of his face as Eve stepped forward, getting ready for battle. "I'll give you one more chance; leave now or I'll make you go." She warned. "You're so sure you can make me do anything huh doll face? Well then... Imma have to make you eat those words then." He grinned, and then sent out a Houndoom, making Natalia's eyes widen. Most of Eves moves were psychic, and ineffective on a dark type. "Dark Pulse." He commanded, and the Houndoom let loose a shadowy energy that spread across the floor, undodgeable and hitting Eve hard. "I'm... I'm okay..." Her voice echoed weakly in Natalia's mind. "Are you sure...?" She asked in her mind as well. "Yes..." "Then use quick attack. We'll communicate silently to have a slight advantage." She thought, and Eve nodded, disappearing and reappearing next to the Houndoom, hitting it full on with her body. "Crunch." The man commanded. "Try to dodge it!" Natalia thought, but it was too late, the Houndoom was faster than she expected, and Eve was down for the count. Furious now, Natalia returned Eve into her Pokeball and sent out Blaze. The Combusken, seeing what had happened thus far, came out raring to go, wanting to avenge its partner. "Busken!" He growled, the Houndoom retorting with a snarl. "Double kick!" She commanded, and Blaze whirled around, getting two powerful kicks in on the demon dogs side, causing it to yelp and slide back. "Shadow Ball!" The man commanded, and a dark sphere grew at the Houndooms mouth, shooting towards Blaze and he swiftly dodged it, countering with another Double Kick without Natalia's instructions, he didn't need to be told again. The Houndoom was knocked out cold and it's trainer puffed a cloud of smoke in irritation, returning his Pokemon and reaching for another Pokeball when suddenly the well guard came running in. "Max! We gotta go, the boss called us in!" He yelled, and the man, apparently named Max glared in the boys direction. "Right now?! Really?" He growled, frustrated. "You aren't the boss?" Natalia asked, bewildered. "Of course not lady! I don't make the orders, just carry em out. But get one thing straight, this ain't over, and you got lucky. I'll finish you off another day." He said sternly, obviously upset that the battle was cut short before running off. "Hey! Get back here scumbag! You're damn right this isn't finished! HEY!" She yelled, but they were already gone. Kurt was also nowhere to be seen, so she supposed she should check his house to see if he recovered enough to get back up the ladder and back into town. For now she rounded up the Slowpoke, and led them into town. "The Slowpoke are back!" People in the town came over to the line of Slowpoke following Natalia. Each person claimed their own Slowpoke and Natalia eventually made her way to Kurt's house with the last Slowpoke left from the bunch. As soon as she walked through the doors, Kurt's granddaughter ran over to her Pokemon and hugged it tightly. "Daisy you're back!" She squealed, swinging the pink Pokemon from side to side. "Slowwwwww...?" It said sleepily. "Look Grandpa, her tail is starting to grow back too!" She pointed to the stubby tail on the Slowpokes rear and smiled. Kurt chuckled and motioned Natalia over. "Thank you Fey, you've done good. I saw those goons running as I made my way over to the house, you must be an excellent trainer! I have no doubt that you'll be able to win the gym badge here." Natalia smiled. "Thank you sir." "Hey miss, if you ever want us to make you some Pokeballs, just come here and bring us some Apricorns." The little girl offered, holding out her PTS. Natalia tapped it with her own, exchanging their information before leaving. She needed to get to a Pokemon center to heal Eve so they could win their second badge. **


	5. Chapter 5: A Test of Faith

**Walking into the Azalea Town Pokemon center, Natalia made her way to the counter and waited for Nurse Joy to turn from her work. "Good morning~ Would you like me to heal your Pokemon...?" She said in her usual cheery tone. "Yes please, oh but, I. Haven't actually caught this one... She just hatched from an egg so..." Natalia tried to explain, looking down at her Togepi. "That's fine, we have a special Pokeball that we use for these occasions. You see, you'd be surprised how many trainers we get who either have a hurt wild pokemon, refuse to use Pokeballs on their Pokemon, or have a Pokemon who doesn't like being put into a Pokeball so their trainers just never use them, therefore we have a tech ball here that doesn't actually catch Pokemon, but stores them in order to heal them. As soon as the Pokemon is released from the ball it's free once again." She explained. "Oh! Okay, here." Natalia handed her Pokemon over, and then Grace so that she could be put in a Pokeball as well. However, Grace began to whimper as soon as she was handed over to a stranger. "Hey hey, it's okay, this will only take a second I promise, then you'll be back with me again okay?" Natalia said softly, trying to soothe her. Nurse Joy put the Togepi into the Tech Ball and lay all of the Pokemon out on the healing machine, turning it on to start the healing process. However, Nurse Joys expression changed from content to fearful. "Oh my..." She said looking from the screen to the Pokeballs and then selecting one. "What..? What is it?" Natalia asked, somewhat worried. "Your Espeon... We need to take her to the emergency room right now!" At this, Natalia just about panicked. "What's wrong?!" She asked, following Nurse Joy into a small room with wires, computers, and an operating table. "She has a significant amount of dark energy in her system, it's killing her... Did you have her fight a dark type recently?" Nurse Joy tried to explain. Natalia's mind flashed back to the fight with Maxs' Houndoom, wincing as she remembered the two dark type moves it used to take out Eve. "Oh no..." She murmured in horror. Nurse Joy released the Espeon onto the table and attached the wires, as well as a needle that hooked up to an IV. Eve was breathing, but it was rather shallow, and she flinched every now and then as a wisp of dark energy crackled along her fur. A Blissey came waddling in, carrying a syringe filled with shining liquid and injected it into the Espeon quickly, and the dark aura began to flare up even more. After a few moments, it died down, and Eve began to breathe shallowly again. Nurse Joy walked over and checked a few monitors, writing down a few notes. "Will she... Be okay...?" Natalia asked quietly, stoking Eves fur. "The dark energy is gone... But I'm not sure how long it will take her to recover, or wake up..." Nurse Joy replied hesitantly. "I'm sorry, but you'll just have to wait for now..." Natalia nodded, not quite all there, she didn't think she could stand losing someone so close to her again. Eve had been her partner ever since she could remember, she had grown up with her when she was an Eevee, and their bond grew so strong that she evolved into what she was today. "Eve... I know you can hear me..." She started, tears welling up in her eyes as she continued to run her fingers along the purple cats' head. "Remember... When we were little, and I used to take you out on adventures through my backyard...? I remember when... I remember when I twisted my ankle running around, and instead of running to go get my mom you carried me all the way into the house even though you were much smaller than me..." She gave a halfhearted laugh. "What I'm trying to say is... You're stronger than this... So please... Don't give up on me now..."A small tear ran down her cheek before she bent down and hugged Eve, reluctantly letting go and leaving the room. "Will you watch her for now...?" She asked Nurse Joy quietly. "Absolutely. Come back and check on her anytime okay...?" Natalia nodded numbly and gathered up the rest of her Pokemon off of the healing machine, releasing Grace from the tech ball. She chirped happily at the sight of her mother and snuggled into Natalia's arms without so much as a second thought. However, just as she stepped towards the sliding glass doors, a weak voice whispered into her mind, but she couldn't quite make out what it said. She turned to Nurse Joy. "Did you... Say something...?" "Hm? No..." Nurse Joy replied, confused. Natalia heard the voice again, much clearer this time, but still weak. "Don't... Give up on me..." It whispered, and Natalia's eyes glanced to the room Eve lay in. She hadn't moved from the spot, but it was definitely her voice. "I won't... I'll come back for you, I promise..." She thought back, and maybe, just maybe... There was the faintest of smiles on Eves face.**


	6. Chapter 6: An Unlikely Truce

**Natalia knew that, if it was at all possible, she didn't want to try to get her second game badge without Eve, so in order to give her some time to recover she headed out towards Ilex Forest. However, upon nearing the entrance, she saw an all too familiar red haired boy standing there and waiting for her, arms crossed. She walked towards him without a word, eyes boring into his like lasers. "...Tell me something... Is it true that Team Void members were here...?" He asked coolly. "Team Void...? You mean those goons in the funny suits? Yeah they were here. I chased them out of town." Natalia said, somewhat stunned he knew what team they were. Though that explained the purple V on their uniforms. "What? You beat them? Hah! Quit lying." He scoffed, and Natalia's previous scowling expression resumed. "Believe what you want, but the truth is the truth." She stated matter of factly. "You're really serious huh...? Then let's see just how good you are!" He said in a challenging tone, backing up and tossing out a Gastly. Natalia drew back as well, not backing down from a challenge. "Oh? A new Pokemon huh? Who did you steal this one from?" She taunted, but it would have been nice to have Eve at this point, since psychic types were super effective against ghost types. "Shut up! I caught it you idiot. " He growled. Natalia debated using Electra in this fight, however, as Grace chirped in Natalia's arms, she remembered her display of psychic energy on Anthony's Machop. She smiled smugly, and set the baby Pokemon on the ground and whispered something before standing back up. "What? Is that what hatched from your precious egg? Hah! It's tiny! And it has a little baby blanket. What a wimp." Vulcan continued to act superior, little did he know that Natalia had a huge advantage now. "Extrasensory." She commanded smoothly, still smiling. Grace lifted up her little stubby arms and chirped happily as the purple energy pulsed from her towards the Gastly. It looked shocked for a moment, then felt itself being stretched in all directions, getting a massive headache. "Gast... ly..." It groaned before slowly floating to the ground. "What?!" Vulcan yelled angrily. "Yeah, so what was that you were saying about how eggs and baby Pokemon were useless? You may want to rethink your opinions." She smirked before kneeling down. "Com'ere Grace~" She cooed as the Togepi turned and ran up chirping into her arms again. "Good girl~" She smiled, waving her finger around as Grace chirped some more and attempted to catch it. Vulcan grumbled and muttered something under his breath, returning his Pokemon. "Let's go Crocnaw." He growled, sending out the water starter that he had stolen from Professor Elm, except it seemed that he had evolved it since then. "Electra, come on out!" She called, sending the pink sheep out of its Pokeball. "Maaaaa~" She called sleepily. "What...? That's a strange color for a Mareep..." Vulcan thought out loud, rather confused. "Yes, that's why I didn't hesitate to catch her. I wanted a Mareep to help me with the Violet City Gym anyways." She explained with a shrug. "If you catch a Pokemon because of its color and not it's strength then that's kind of stupid... Especially if it's a color like pink..." Vulcan said with a somewhat disgusted expression. "How many times to I have to prove you wrong? Electra, use thundershock!" She commanded, and the battle began. Electras fur sparked as she charged forwards and sent a bolt of lightning flying. It hit and paralyzed the water type, forcing it to struggle in order to move. "Water gun!" Vulcan commanded, and the alligator slowly opened its mouth enough to spit a jet of water out. "Electra, quick! Use thundershock on that water!" She commanded. "What?!" Vulcan exclaimed as Electra followed orders, and the jolt of electricity became even more effective by electrocuting the water. The Crocnaw fell to the ground, defeated. Grimacing, Vulcan returned his Pokemon and sent out another, a Bayleaf this time. So he evolved all of the stolen Pokemon eh? He really was serious about becoming stronger. Natalia returned Electra and sent out Blaze. "You always hide behind type advantages, and that is why you are weak." Vulcan growled. "Razor Leaf!" He commanded, and the Bayleaf swung it's head around, sending several leaves towards the Cumbusken. "Use flamethrower to burn them and keep going to attack!" Natalia commanded, and Blaze let loose a jet of flame that easily turned the leaves to ash and sent the grass type flying back towards her trainer. They collided and Vulcan struggled to push her off. "Get off of me you useless oaf!" He yelled, slipping out from underneath and returning her. "Let's go Quilava. You're the only one I can actually count on." He muttered, sending out the flame hedgehog. It held a dead serious expression in its eyes as it cried its name gruffly. "Use a quick attack and flame wheel combo that we practiced!" He commanded, and the Quilava dashed off towards Blaze, then spinning into a rolling wheel of flame before hitting Blaze hard. He stumbled backwards, surprised by the strength of the attack. Natalia grimaced, to be honest, that was a good tactic, and she was impressed, but she wasn't going to compliment him any time soon. "Double kick it while it's close!" She commanded, and Blaze recovered in time to whirl around and land a powerful kick, sending the Quilava back. He then charged for the fire type again, intending to land the second kick. "Smokescreen!" Vulcan ordered, and suddenly the area was filled with a thick black smog. Blaze couldn't see and therefore couldn't attack again, for now. "Use flamethrower to light up the area!" Natalia suggested, but Vulcans voice came over loud and clear. "Flame wheel!" Natalia looked around to see if she could catch a glimpse of the flames. "Look for the fire and then strike!" She shouted, hoping Blaze could finish this. Blaze opened his eyes and glanced around, soon a red flame caught his eye, and reacting just in time, he kicked. When the smoke cleared, both fire types stood, beaten badly, but refusing to give in. After a few moments however, the Quilava fell to the ground. Blaze smiled and gave a small jump into the air, running over to Natalia. "Great job!" She commended her Pokemon, ruffling the feathers on his head before returning him into his Pokeball. Vulcan returned his as well, frowning. They were close, but not quite there. "This is ridiculous... How could I lose to a wimp like you?! Pfft... You only won because my Pokemon were weak. I despise weak things- Pokemon, Trainers, it doesn't matter who or what. Team Void is weak as well, they claim to be so tough because they're a big group and they can gang up, but individually they are weak. You are the opposite, your Pokemon are strong individually when they have a type advantage, but as a whole you are weak because of that. If one of your team goes down then the rest fall like dominoes. So I will train and become stronger both as a whole and as an individual in order to beat you." Natalia let her Absol, Dusk, out, glaring at the red head. "You keep saying Im weak yet here I am, winning every battle you challenge me to. You would think you would take the hint but I suppose you're simply too arrogant. However, you also forget you're a wanted criminal..." She said calmly, Dusk growling low and dark. Vulcan stepped back somewhat towards Ilex forest. "You really are going to hold that over my head aren't you...?" He muttered. "Well maybe if you actually treated those stolen Pokemon with love and care I would let you go, instead I see a boy who yells at his Pokemon and calls them weak just because they lose. And you wonder why you aren't getting stronger. Hah!" She rolled her eyes. "Sick 'im Dusk." She commanded, and the Absol dashed towards Vulcan as the boy turned to run away. She pursued after Dusk as he chased her rival into the forest, however soon they both disappeared, leaving her behind in a cloud of dust. She walked around slowly, listening for any sign of them. Suddenly she head voices as she rounded a corner, and saw two Team Void members wrestling Dusk to the ground as he growled viciously. Natalia was about to shout at them and rescue her Pokemon when strong hands grabbed her arm and yanked her behind a tree, covering her mouth before she could scream. She still tried however, muffled noises coming from behind the hand as she struggled. "Shhh! Be quiet..." A voice whispered into her ear. A noise of objection came from Natalia before her eyes adjusted to faintly make out Vulcans figure in the darkness. "Mrrfffmrm?!" She shouted. "Shhhhh! Dear Arceus do you ever shut up...?!" He hissed, glancing between her and the Team Void members around the corner with narrowed eyes. "Look, all my Pokemon are knocked out thanks to you, so you're going to have to save him yourself, but your Pokemon are weakened too, so you cant just charge in there without a plan!" He continued to whisper quietly. "Just work with me alright?!" He ordered, even with Natalia growing rather hostile. 'Damn right I can charge in there without a plan! That's my Pokemon!' She thought, still struggling. Vulcan sighed, shaking his head, glancing over to the group again. In the meantime Natalia grabbed his hand and attempted to pull it off of her mouth to no avail. He was stronger than he looked. "You're hopeless..." He said quietly, still watching the Team Void members. And for a moment, Natalia stopped struggling, flashes of a childhood friend flashing through her mind, one who was just as difficult, stubborn, and agrivating, but kinder. Her expression softened a bit. "...What...? Are you actually going to cooperate now? I'm not letting you go until you agree to work with me." He said with a tone of superiority which Natalia hated, but she nodded in agreement, and he let her go. "With one exception..." She muttered, wiping her mouth off. Suddenly, she slapped him hard across the face. "Ow! What was that for?!" Vulcan hissed. "Because I hate you, and it made me feel better." She said, qualifying her actions, crossing her arms. Vulcan looked confused at first, but as he thought about it, he eventually began to nod in agreement. "Alright..." He said quietly, which caught Natalia by surprise. "So... You aren't mad at me...?" She asked, confused. "Yes, but I don't blame you." He explained with a shrug. "... So you are t going to hit me back..." She said more as a statement than anything else. "Why would I do that?" He asked. "Because you're mad at me...? I mean, honestly I wouldn't put you as above hitting girls, since you obviously don't have a problem pinning them against trees." She mumbled, slightly irritated. Vulcan rolled his eyes. "Look, they caught him in a net. You could easily return him to his Pokeball but then their attention would be pulled on us, so what now...?" Natalia looked around. "We plan an escape route." She suggested. "I'll return him, then we make a break in that direction." She pointed down the row of trees. "... I guess that is our only option..." He agreed. "Alright, on the count of three then..." She said, pulling out her Pokeball. "One... Two... Three...!" A red beam of light shot through the trees and pulled Dusk out of the net and into the safety of his Pokeball. Natalia smiled and stored it in her satchel, but an uproar of voices came from the Void members. "Hey!" "Where'd it go?!" "The trainer returned him!" "Come out here you little brat!" Vulcan grabbed Natalia's arm and pulled her towards the deeper part of the forest. "Come on! Don't just stand there you idiot!" He yelled as he dragged her along. "We'll excuse me for being happy to get my Pokemon back!" She argued. "ARGH! You really are impossible!" He growled, and soon they weaved their way deep into the forest. Vulcan dropped down to the ground, pulling Natalia with him before letting go of her arm. "Remember how I said you and your team are set up like dominoes? In case you didn't notice there you were about to sacrifice yourself and your whole team just to save one part of it. You can all stand strong individually, but if one falls all the others fall with it. Stop sacrificing so much for such a small part of the whole dammit! It's annoying." He said quietly. "I don't need you to tell me how to care for my Pokemon. It's better than not caring for them at all." She glared. Suddenly however, something dawned on her. "Grace... Where is Grace?!" She yelped with worry. "Grace? Isn't that your... You've got to be kidding! Put that thing in a Pokeball and stop carrying it around like a doll!" He growled, watching Natalia stand up, ignoring what he suggested. Sighing, he pulled her back down. "Don't even think about it... You go out there and look for her now you'll give away our position. " He warned. "What does that matter if they find Grace and capture her?! I have Dusk and Electra, they'll be good enough." She said confidently. "And what if you don't have the type advantage? Worse yet what if you have a disadvantage? Then what?" He yelled sternly. "Then at least I tried." She retorted, standing up and starting to walk away. Vulcan hesitated for a moment and then shook his head, pulling her back and pinning her down this time by lying on top of her. "Grace can handle herself. You know she has psychic powers, and she's strong too. I'm dong this for your own good." He said quietly, a small bit of annoyance but something else as well... Was it worry? Sadness maybe? Either way it didn't matter, Natalia was too busy thrashing about and trying to bite Vulcan. "She's just a baby! She'd be scared without me! I don't know if shed defend herself without me!" She growled, wanting to slap him again. "Believe in her ability then!" He growled. "Yeah, coming from you those words aren't as effective!" She snapped. "Shhh!" He hissed in retort, not really arguing her point. "I will not shush! Let me go or I'm taking you down with me!" She growled. Voices could be heard in the distance. "Here! I think it was coming from over here! Come on!" Vulcans eyes grew wide looking down at Natalia again as she continued to yell. His hands were occupied by pinning her arms down so he couldn't cover her mouth without risking her breaking loose. There was really only one option to shut her up without knocking her out. He hesitated, but leaned in closer. Natalia's eyes narrowed. "What do you think you're doin-" She was cut off however as his lips touched hers, eyes wide with surprise before her brain put everything together and she began to struggle again. The sound of the men running passed by and after a few moments of silence Vulcan finally let go, wiping his mouth in disgust. "Ugh... Don't, make me do that again." He complained. "Make you?! Make YOU?! As if I forced you to kiss me!" She spat, wiping her mouth as well. "What the hell was that for?!" She added, incredulous. "You wouldn't shut up and stop struggling! I had to cover your mouth somehow!" He argued, and Natalia stood up, grumbling. "Whatever you creep. I'm finding Grace." She concluded, walking off. "Fine!" He growled. "Don't come crying to me if you get caught!" "Oh shut up and go to jail already!" She yelled back, fuming as she searched for her Togepi. "Grace...? Graaace!" She called, and soon enough, she saw the white blanket on the ground, but no sign of Grace. She picked it up quickly, examining it. There was no way her Togepi would have left it on the ground willingly. "Well at least we have a clue now." Vulcans voice said suddenly from behind her. Natalia whirled around in surprise at first, then pure hatred settled in. "A clue? Is that what you think this is?!" She started, walking slowly and dangerously towards him. Vulcan put his hands up defensively, backing up as she advanced. "She would have never left this lying on the ground! She's either been captured or hurt!" She yelled, taking a swing at him. "AND. IT'S. ALL. YOUR. FAULT!" She wailed, trying to punch him with each word, making contact with his chest a few times near the end only because she pinned him against a tree, but he didn't so much as flinch with each time she made contact, probably because she wasn't very strong physically. However each punch grew weaker and slower as she succumbed to the tears welling up in her eyes and broke down. "Why didn't you just let me go... It would have been my problem, not yours... You could have just let me go... I could have saved her...!" She sobbed. Vulcans eyes narrowed. "Look! I'm sorry okay?! I'm trying to keep you from doing anything stupid here! What if she isn't hurt? What if she dropped the blanket to walk faster? We can still look for her but you have got to pull yourself together dammit!" He shouted, which surprised Natalia completely. She stepped back and wiped her eyes, seeming to snap out of it. "You're right... Come on, let's get back into town. We're going to need some help. Besides, Azalea owes me a favor for saving their Slowpoke." She suggested with a small smile, and Vulcan nodded. "Thats more like it. Let's go." **


	7. Chapter 7: Arachnophobia

**"Graaaaace!" The sound of the Togepi's name rang out throughout the forest as Natalia and a handful of the Azalea Town citizens called her name, searching in Natalia's behalf. Natalia and Vulcan had both healed their Pokemon at the center and could now effectively take out any of the Team Void goons running rampant through the forest, and of course while they were in the center, Natalia had to check and see how Eve was holding up. The purple cat was resting peacefully, looking much better than before, no doubt by the time she got her gym badge and found Grace she would be ready to go. Back in the forest, Natalia continued to call Graces' name, looking around when suddenly, she felt little nubby hands on her lower leg. Turning around she smiled, and picked the egg Pokemon up, cuddling her tightly. "Oooh Grace! You had me so worried!" She said with a concerned yet happy look on her face, taking out the white blanket Grace loved so much and wrapping her in it again. However, the Togepi looked frightened still. "We need to get you into a Pokeball so I won't have to- What's the matter...?" She asked, seeing as Grace was still upset. Suddenly their reunion was interrupted by a gruff voice. "There you are... I thought we would find you with her as the bait." Natalia turned around to see one of the Team Void grunts that had been been holding down Dusk, her Absol. "Now why don't you just come with me and we won't hurt you." He said calmly, holding out a large gun, one Natalia recognized as a poacher gun made to shoot weighted nets. She reached for Blaze's Pokeball, ready to let him out to burn the net if need be, when Vulcan came in from above, kicking the goons head, knocking him out. The grunts teammate came out from behind another patch of trees and shot his net gun, which Vulcan nimbly dodged. "Get out of here! I'll take care of them." He commanded to Natalia, sending out his Quilava and getting ready to battle. She nodded after getting over her surprise, silently thanking him before turning and running off to find the rest of the Azalea Town citizens and letting them know she found Grace, thanking them all as she came by. Word soon spread, and everyone eventually returned to the town, however, Natalia never saw Vulcan or the Void grunts afterwards. She grew somewhat worried, but she knew that if Vulcan could escape her, he could probably handle himself. No doubt they would run into each other again. The only problem was now, she would be in moral conflict with herself, unsure of whether she should turn Vulcan in to the Police or not. He did save her skin more than once, even if the thought was slightly irritating. She supposed she should be thankful, but now that she was out of the moment, she was torn between his horrid attitude and law breaking, and the debt she felt she had to repay. She would have to save him from something and then after that she could turn him in with no regrets. She snapped out of her thoughts as soon as she realized she made it out of the forest and was standing in front of the Azalea Gym, she noticed the Team Void guard that was standing there only moments ago had moved, probably evacuated along with Max, so maybe she could find out exactly what happened during the slowpoke incident and why he remained mia the entire time. Walking through the doors and seeing trees, metal spinaraks, and web everywhere wasn't exactly something she expected, but they sat ahead of her, real as day. Natalia took a step forward cautiously, glancing around in awe at her surroundings. It seemed that every gym had some unique quality that went along with the type of Pokemon the gym leader possessed. It looked like her only option of getting to the gym leader was to climb aboard one of the metal spinarak and see where it led her. As soon as she stepped on, and put her hands on the metal gate, the other half slid out from behind, locking her in. The contraption then jolted forwards, steel legs climbing along a web covered pole towards the forest, and it's apparent destination within. The trees seemed to part way to a small clearing, and the front guard rail opened, allowing her out. The place seemed so empty, and Natalia grew suspicious. After all, the town had practically been taken over by a gang not too long ago, it wouldn't surprise her if this were a trap. A bright light flashed on from above, shining down on a small stage. The technology seemed rather unusual compared to the rest, as something emerged from the small pedestal. When the steam cleared, Natalia stood before a large metal ariados. "Hahaha! How do you like this baby kid?" Max's voice suddenly emanated from a speaker on the ariados' back. "Max?!" Natalia asked, rather surprised. "That's right sweet cheeks. Now I can repay you for blowing up my slowpoke business! GAHAHAHAHA!" The Ariados revved up and started walking towards Natalia, and when she turned around, the metal spinarak was no longer there. She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to fall into the pit behind her, the only option was to fight. "Blaze! We're in trouble!" She yelled, tossing out a Pokeball and letting out her Combusken. "Busken!" Blaze yelled, assessing the situation and spitting out a flamethrower at the ariados. "H-hey! Watch it! This thing was more expensive than what your worth!" Max's voice growled out of the intercom as the flames licked the metal, starting to melt it. On the inside of the ariados, Max grew frustrated, and slammed down a button on the control panel. The ariados opened its mouth and shot a glob of webbing at Blaze, wrapping him up tightly and knocking him to the ground. "Blaze!" Natalia yelled, starting to rush to him, but out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of the Ariados' leg heading for her, and jumped out of the way just in time before she would have been crushed. "Oh no you don't... Stay right where you are." Max commanded, sending the other leg into the opposite side and trapping Natalia between the two. The ariados opened its mouth again, preparing to spit another glob of webbing, but suddenly Blaze jumped out in front of his trainer and let loose anther jet of flame, melting the web cannon and infuriating Max. "No no no no! That's cheating!" He growled, attempting to peg them into the ground unsuccessfully, and ended up tripping the whole robot with its own legs. The Ariados fell to the ground in one big heap, shirt circuiting and ejecting Max from the pilot seat with some poor boy wrapped in webbing. Max looked at Natalia, then at Blaze, and then took off. "After him!" Natalia commanded, and Blaze dashed off, spitting fire at the two. Max glanced back, unhappy with his circumstances, and dropped the web wrapped boy in order to escape. Natalia wanted to give chase, but she had a feeling she would see Max again, so for now Che called Blaze back to her side and had him help free the boy from his web trap. Once he was able to breathe, Bugsy gasped and tore the rest of the web off of him. "Agh! That was horrible! And scary! I mean, I like bug Pokemon and all but that's a little too buggy for me!" He wailed. "Well the point is you're alright now, right?" Natalia asked, standing up and dusting herself off. "Yup yup! Thanks to you and your little fella over there!" Bugsy smiled, patting Blaze on the head. The Combusken grinned as best as he could with his beak, making soft cooing sounds of appreciation. "Well I'm glad you're okay. Who... Are you though?" Natalia asked, unsure why Max would want to capture this boy. "I'm Bugsy! Azalea Towns gym leader!" He stated proudly. "What's your name miss?" Natalia smiled and shook Bugsy's outstretched hand. "Call me Fey." She offered. "Well then, nice to meet you Fey! Why don't you follow me for a second." Bugsy grinned, obviously fully recovered from the traumatic experience earlier, before turning around and heading towards the small pedestal Natalia saw earlier. "I don't know what I was thinking, trusting that man, he claimed to be from the same company I got all of the spinarak robots from." Bugsy explained as they stepped onto the pedestal. The metal surface shifted, and then slowly sank down below the ground. "I like inventing and messing around with machines, so when he told me about a new ariados robot to use as platforms for gym battling in I thought it'd be pretty cool." They hit the ground and walked out into a small tunnel lit up by dim electric bug shaped lights on the sides. The place was crowded with metal scraps and gizmos of all sorts, and Fey couldn't help but gaze around in awe. "He took me outside to show me what it looked like, and I had to go and get suspicious, telling him that it didn't look much like a platform, because, well, as you saw, it didn't. But that's because it wasn't! Before I could blink those bullies tangled me up in that stupid web!" They reached a workshop area with more tools, but Bugsy reached for a small box instead. "Anyways, I'm safe now and so is the town, I think all of your work is proof enough that you deserve this." He picked out a Hive Badge and handed it to Natalia. Then he picked up a small container, handing it over as well. "Here, take this too, it's a move I've been working on called U-Turn. Teach it to an awesome bug Pokemon!" He said happily. Natalia chuckled and gave Bugsy a small hug, feeling much more like her old self suddenly. Bugsy seemed slightly surprised and smiled, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I should be hugging you! Not the other way around! Not that I mind..." He chuckled. "Well, thank you for everything. Try not to get trapped in anymore webs while I'm away okay?" Natalia giggled, and Bugsy nodded in agreement. "But, just in case I do..." He said, tapping his PTS to Natalia's. "I'll know who to call!" He said cheerily. Natalia chuckled and nodded, waving goodbye at last, making her way out of the gym. **


	8. Chapter 8: Hope in Humanity

Natalia looked at the Hive badge in her hand with a small smile. That was two badges down now, it seemed like things were going rather smoothly. So hadn't run into any problems because she wasn't home, no one knew her here, it was a fresh start. It felt kind of nice, and she almost felt herself returning to the carefree girl of her youth. She stopped walking and frowned however. Something was wrong. Something was still missing... But what...? Before she could contemplate the idea any more, an angry yell came from Kurt's house. Confused, she walked over and slowly opened the door, not liking what she found inside. Kurt was pinned up against the wall by his throat, being choked by some punk. "F-Fey!" Kurt choked out. In one swift movement, Natalia jumped up behind the boy, gave him a sharp blow to the head, and knocked him out cold. He grunted from surprise and slumped to the floor, releasing Kurt from his grasp. The old Pokeball maker gasped and leaned against the wall, continuing to drink in the crisp wonderful air. "Fey, thank you thank you thank you..." He wheezed, glaring at Kane and shaking his head. "I think he was a part of that Void bunch; he was looking for you." Natalia glanced down at the culprit, taking a better look, and the staggering back in surprise. "Oh... Oh no..." She shook slightly, looking him over again to make sure. "That's... That's my friend Kane..." She muttered in horror and awe. "Oh... So he was telling the truth..." Kurt said, ashamed at his mistrust. "No, no it's fine, I would have been suspicious too... But this isn't good." She said, somewhat panicking. "It's alright, I'm sure he'll wake up eventually." Kurt reassured her. However, Natalia wasn't worried about Kane, she knew he would be fine, instead she found herself torn again between her best friend, and needing to escape any memory of her past life. She couldn't have Kane tagging along, if they were caught then he would be thrown in jail with her or worse. Plus the two of them together was all too obvious for anyone who knew Natalia or Kane. There were too many factors here, and it hurt in more ways than one. "Kurt... Do me a favor and hide for a few days. I'll call you when the coast is clear." She suggested, standing and hoisting Kanes limp body over her shoulder. "Wh-what?" Kurt asked, astonished. "I cant have him here, I can't have him following me, and I can't have him knowing where I am, much less following me. I don't want him coming after you for information again." She said numbly, thinking hard. "Okay... If you say so. I won't push you for information you don't want to give." Kurt said reluctantly, and beginning to pack his things. Natalia took a sheet of paper and a pencil, scrawling a note quickly and exiting the house and heading towards the slowpoke well. Carefully, she climbed down, Kane's body in tow, and walked deep into the heart of the well. Once she felt that she was deep enough she set Kane down as gently as possible, laying the note down on a nearby rock. Then, she stood there, frozen in time. Oh how she wanted to talk to him, hug him, catch up on what Pokemon they each had, how Zander was doing... But she couldn't. Not now. She knelt down in front of him, on the verge of tears. He had come so far looking for her, but he didn't know that Natalia could no longer exist for both of their sakes. She had to be Fey now, and Fey didn't know who Kane was. Hesitating for a split second, she decided that, for now, she could be Natalia again. She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tight, and kissed his cheek. She missed him so much, and she knew she would regret giving in later, but she never really got to say goodbye... After a few more seconds, she let go, and headed out, never looking back.

When Natalia reached the Pokemon center, Eve was waiting for her near the front, twitching her tail irritably. 'I can't believe you.' She huffed, and Natalie looked rather bewildered. "Im... Sorry? I fail to see what I've done wrong here..." She stated truthfully. 'You're really just going to run away from him like that? You aren't going to stay with him? You can't be serious. That boy has been looking all over creation for you and you know it.' Eve seemed to scold, standing up and walking past Natalia without looking at her. "Eve! Don't you dare guilt me into this! Or have you completely forgotten why we even came here?" Natalia tried to defend herself, but Eve continued to ignore her. At least she seemed back to her old self. 'Yes yes I know very well why we came here, but I don't see why Kane can't come with us. You think you're saving him but you're the only thing he has going for him right now.' She said, telepathy sounding more sad. "Well he needs to learn to live without me. I ruined everything and aim not taking him down with me. He still has a chance Eve... I'm not going to ruin that too." She said sadly. As true as her words may have been, they still hurt. She glanced down at the floor and sighed. 'Then why didn't you leave me?' Eve asked, sounding ominous. "What? Why would I leave you?!" Natalia asked, taken a back. 'You're trying to escape your past aren't you? Why not leave me? I would say I'm a pretty big factor. Don't I have a better future without you too? It's the same logic.' She explained, sharp, wise eyes pricing Natalia's. "Eve, you're different... You're a Pokemon, not a person. If I'm caught, and tried, and thrown in jail, they will just release you into the wild. If I'm caught with Kane, he will be thrown in jail too. You don't have a different future either way, it's either I release all of you now, or release you later... I want to keep some of my friends at least...It's hard enough letting Kane go... I can't... I don't know what I'd do without you too." She said sadly sinking slowly to the ground. Eve gave a small sigh of pity and circled her trainer, rubbing her cheeks up against her. 'There there dear... I'm sorry for being frustrated... I just can't understand your logic... If I feel the same way Kane does then he wouldn't care if he was put in jail for the rest of his life as long as he got to travel with you... Plus I doubt that even if you two were discovered that anyone could catch you.' She chuckled halfheartedly. Natalia gave a weak smile and nodded. "You may be right... But I just... I don't want to... I don't know Eve...!" She rubbed her temples and stared at the floor. "I don't know what the future holds, I don't know what I'm going to do, I don't know what's best! I just-!" Grace suddenly waddled out from Eves room and tapped Natalia on the shoulder. Natalia had left her there to watch over the Espeon while she went to get her gym badge. Now she was more thankful for what she did, she probably wouldn't have been able to handle the Arriados with Grace in her arms. Natalia turned and picked the baby Pokemon up and tucked the blanket, Grace chirping happily in response. 'Come come... Let's go dear.' Eve suggested, ushering Natalia out the door.

The Ilex forest wasn't as bad as the first time through, since Natalia had wondered all over it trying to find Grace she had gotten a good feel for it. However, she hadn't expected to see the strange Kimono girl near the end. She walked around too and fro, looking rather lost; mumbling to herself. "Kimono Gil, kimono girl... Lost and all alone... Poor girl lost in the dark Ilex forest..." She said in a singsong tone, twirling slightly at the end. "Excuse me ma'am..." Natalia said quietly, and the woman stopped to look at her. "Didn't I SE you in Violet City...?" She asked, and the woman looked at her inquisitively. "Oooh no, I don't think so. You must be imagining~" The strange kimono dancer suggested with a giggle, twirling again. "But I am lost, could you show me out of this forest?" Natalia was sure that this girl had been in Violet city, but she did seem a little different than the last. Maybe Kimono dancers were just a common sight in this region and she had to get used to it. "Sure miss, we were just on our way out as well." Natalia said with a small, somewhat forced smile. Grace suddenly began to chirp and squirm, jumping out of Natalia's arms and onto the ground, seeming to want to lead the way. "Oh~ Will you help me little one?" The woman asked with a pleased smile. Grace chirped affirmatively and began to head forward, pointing to the exit and chirping some more. "Oh! What a smart Pokemon! Thank you little one~" The woman said appreciatively and made her way to the end of the forest. Grace waddled back over to Natalia, who gladly picked her up and cuddled her. "You're such a sweet girl..." She giggled, nuzzling the Togepi, and heading towards the exit as well. Route 34 was surprisingly beautiful. Lots of grass, fresh water, the smell of rain. Lovely by all of Natalia's standards. Before she could enjoy the scene any more however, her phone rang; It was Kurt. She answered, though somewhat worried, to see why he was calling so soon. Apparently, he had escaped well, hiding away for a bit, but he realized he forgot his medication, and had to make his way back to the house. He reassured her that everything was fine and he was okay, but he called because a note had been left by Kane on the door, most likely in response to her own. It read;

Either you're more closely involved than you'd like me to think, or you're just nosy. If the latter is the case, then you should stay out of my life. If it's the former, then I'm afraid trouble will find me anywhere. May as well have it serve a purpose. -Kane

Natalia sighed and thanked Kurt for the information, suggesting that he remained in hiding for one more day but that should be enough. However, as soon as she closed the phone, she realized that this note meant that Kane was awake, and could be moving through Ilex right at that moment. Sure he wasn't as familiar with it as she was, but that didn't mean he wasn't close. Quickly she ran to the nearest building she could find and calmly made her way inside. An old woman sat on the other side of the room behind a counter. "Hello dearie~ How can I help you?" She asked kindly. "Oh um... Sorry ma'am, I didn't read the sign outside... What is this place...?" Natalia asked, walking up to the counter, feeling bad and willing to buy something in compensation for probably getting the lady's' hopes up. "Ha! Oh my dear sweet girl, this is just a small Pokemon daycare center run by my husband and I for Pokemon like that little baby you have in your arms there." She smiled at Grace warmly, making little notices and waving her finger around as Grace tried to grab it. "O-oh! What a nice establishment...!" Natalia said with a forced smile. It really was nice but she didn't want to leave her Pokemon here, she preferred to have them with her, but she didn't want to waste the lady's time. However, the daycare woman simply smiled up at her. "You're one of those trainers who likes to raise Pokemon yourself aren't you? I can tell you're conflicted at the moment." She chuckled. "Is it that obvious?" Natalia asked, relaxing a bit and laughing. "You don't owe me anything dear, good company is just as nice." The woman reassured her, making Natalia feel much better. "Could I hold her for a bit? She's such a cute little thing~ What's her name?" She asked, motioning to Grace. Natalia nodded and set Grace down on the counter, letting her waddle over and play with the woman. "Grace... Her name is Grace." Natalia said quietly. "Oh, I see~ What a lovely name. And who is that behind you hmm? She's much older than this one." The woman asked, looking over at Eve. "That's Eve, my Espeon. You're right, she's been with me much longer." Natalia suggested with a smile. "Eve eh? I like your nicknames, they are fitting and pretty, not a lot of trainers put so much thought into their names. Anyways, I've kept you long enough dear, go ahead and make your way into Goldenrod, that's where you want to be, not this old place." The woman chuckled, and Natalia nodded, thankful for the woman's kindness. "Oh, and in case you ever change your mind..." The woman put a number into Natalia's PTS. "Give us a call. We'll be happy to take care of your Pokemon. Now go on, go on your adventure." She smiled, waving Natalia off. "Th-thank you ma'am!" She said happily, walking out.


End file.
